Raheem Mostert walked into the postgame press conference and immediately felt the air conditioning after a hot, humid and long day at Ross-Ade Stadium.

"Feels good," Purdue's senior running back declared.

The cool breeze or the victory?

"Feels great," Mostert added.

The air conditioning was nice, but Saturday's 43-34 win over Western Michigan is something the Boilermakers are going to savor.

Perfection? Far from it. In fact, we saw some things that carried over from the 2013 season, which isn't promising.

But the offense generated drives and points. The running game was productive, led by Mostert's 146 yards and one touchdown. Akeem Hunt joined the ground parade with 78 yards, including a 38-yard fourth-quarter score that sealed the program's first win over an FBS program since 2012 after the Broncos had pulled within 37-34.

Players made plays.

Safety Frankie Williams totaled 119 yards on an interception and two punt returns, leading to 17 points. Three field goals from Paul Griggs, including a career-best 51-yarder. No sacks allowed and no turnovers. Key third-down passes from Danny Etling to B.J. Knauf and Justin Sinz before Hunt's clinching touchdown run were moments that were missing last year.

"It's clock. It's allowing yourself to call more offensive plays. It's potential points," said Hazell, whose team converted 7 of 17 third downs. "If we can come up on third down offensively and stop them on the defense, that's the whole ballgame."

However, the work is just getting started.

Only when the Boilermakers committed to the running game in the second half did the passing attack find some openings. There were drops and overthrown receivers, just like in training camp.

The defense looked too familiar. That's not good.

Led by true freshman running back Jarvion Franklin and a veteran offensive line, the Broncos controlled the line of scrimmage. The 6-foot, 220-pound Franklin rushed for 163 yards and three touchdowns, finding openings throughout the middle of the line.

Overall, Western Michigan gained 213 yards on the ground.

"I thought we missed a couple of tackles in the hole," Hazell said. "Sometimes, you get a little bit out of the gap and that allows for a big run to happen."

The Boilermakers can't go down the same path again and expect success. In fact, defensive coordinator Greg Hudson subbed out the first-team line in the second half after the Broncos scored on back-to-back drives to nearly erase Purdue's 37-21 lead.

"We weren't really sure what to expect with Purdue's defense, but we came out and adjusted and figured it out," Western Michigan quarterback Zach Terrell said. "We moved the ball at times."

So did the Boilermakers, and that's what saved them from a horrible start to the 2014 season.

With the defense struggling, Etling and the offense picked up their teammates and put the game away. We didn't see anything close to that last season.

"The defense struggled some, but the offense stepped up when they needed to step up and put points on the board," said linebacker Sean Robinson, who played despite missing the whole week of practice because of a knee infection. "To me, that's a sign, 'OK, we might have a team.' "